Developers Plan $100 Million Development in Columbia

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor The city of Columbia may see a new apartment and retail complex in the near future. On Tuesday, May 22, officials with Orchard, Kettler and Howard Hughes Corp. presented plans at The Rouse Company Foundation Student Services Hall at Howard Community College, for a $100 million development, the area’s first [...]

The city of Columbia may see a new apartment and

retail complex in the near future. On Tuesday, May 22, officials with Orchard, Kettler and Howard Hughes Corp. presented plans at The Rouse Company Foundation Student Services Hall at Howard Community College, for a $100 million development, the area’s first new housing in a decade.

Called The Metropolitan Downtown Columbia, the 380-unit development will be built on land west of the Sears parking lot at The Mall in Columbia. It will stand six stories high. The Howard Hughes Corp. is building the project in a joint venture with McLean, Virginia-based Kettler, and Orchard Development of Ellicott City, Maryland.

Rents are expected to be among the highest in the region. They will range between $1,600 a month for a one-bedroom apartment to $2,800 for a three-bedroom unit. The building will also include 14,000 square feet of retail space and a parking garage with 675 to 750 spaces. It will feature such amenities as a swimming pool, two large courtyards, a fitness center and a public promenade.

The project is the first phase of an 817-unit development proposed by Howard Hughes Corp., Kettler and Orchard for the 12.8-acre tract next to the mall, along Broken Land Parkway. It is also the first step of a 30-year master plan approved by the Howard County Council that will bring up to 5,500 new residential units, 4.3 million square feet of commercial office space, 1.25 million square feet of retail space, 640 hotel rooms and much more to downtown Columbia.

Design Collective, Inc. of Baltimore is the architect. According to the developers, the building will be LEED-certified. They hope to start work in late 2012 and open The Metropolitan Downtown Columbia in the spring of 2014.